Ship salvage in the cold of winter
by Sarowson
Summary: The Corpus can not afford to leave the raw materials from dormant crash sites.


The piercing gale came from the east and took the warmth of the snow's insulated stillness far away. White water rapids flowed over smooth blue glaciers. The corpus moved in increments down the steep slope of the ravine. They found momentary solace in resting on the pockets of leveled ice. Heat pylons were deployed on the harsh sleet floor. Many deactivated their personal shield units so that they could warm their chilled hands near the base of the coil.

Down the stream was a derelict of galvanized metal scrap. Storage lockers not in the immediate path of the rushing waters still functioned, albeit with a red circle on the face-plate. Those that were battered by the cold water endured, some flickered with compromised wiring, but mostly not at all. Metal beams eight inches thick had been curled in the ship-crash; appearing as jutting fangs barring entrance of the salvage crew's heavy lifters.

A corpus tech dusted the powder from his knees and reactivated his personal shield. He made a gesture to the Drover Bursa in the squad which balanced delicately on the slippery ice of the last temporary encampment. The Drover Bursa kicked the ice with each step, testing its own weight on the terrain before descending. It allowed the Tech to interact with the control panel on its posterior and obeyed the newly placed commands. The Drover Bursa's harpoon gun spooled up in preparation to fire. The machine calibrated the angle of a crushed beam and awaited the go ahead from the Tech. After a brief nod, the harpoon fired.

The cavern wailed. Orange light danced across the sheen of the ice. As it passed underfoot, a Railgun-Moa chirped. Stillness was enforced by the cruel drop in temperature. The Corpus Elite leading the salvage crew broke the silence. He issued an order to the Nullifier Technician: "Weapons Hot."

He turned back to beckon the Drover Bursa. It strained against the firmly anchored harpoon. The team of Crewmen sparked plasma cutters and hacked away at the metal blockage. The beam bowed slowly, creaking against its own superheated weight. The final groans of the Drover Bursa's tether tore the beam away and let the others fall like cards.

A figure stood downstream. The water lapped at its ankles. It watched the crewmen through a glowing keyhole — head tilted and palms turned downward.

The Nullifier Technician activated his drone as the voices of his allies grew frantic, many of them lost their footing and began tumbling down the stream. The Vibrant blue light chopped at the rushing water, sending upwards a moving line of bristled stalagmites. The sharp outcrop hit hard against the nullifier sphere. The spikes shrieked at the tips before they returned to the water in broken chunks. Ripples sank in the already agitated stream. The creature sent another barrage of sharpened ice from the floor. It clawed the surface of the Nullifier Sphere and forced what was left of the salvage party backward. A Corpus Crewman stumbled backward and into a heat lamp. His weight knocked the spire to the floor. The heat lamp rolled down the leveled land and went tumbling past the form below. The ice had changed. Instead of melting when it came in contact with the barrier, it screamed. Lofting hydrogen circled the nullifier sphere in thin tendrils. It was forced into the bubble by the difference in temperature. The Nullifier Crewman looked to his fellow coworkers. From beneath their helmets he felt the dread that locked expressions and glassed vacant eyes. The approaching monster shot single spikes against the wall of the bubble at regular intervals. It tested the weakening defense while breaching the distance between them with a slow gait. The crewman opened fire. A line of plasma started low before being knocked high from the kickback. The bullets that did hit the monster did little to slow the methodical footsteps up the river. Blackened ash coated the entry wounds, the damage remained superficial. The bullets bounced off of the walls and ceiling. Sizzling and popping plasma was overshadowed by the sound of a plasma cutter arcing to life. The Nullifier Crewman's eyes widened as his senses were bombarded with white. His insulated body felt the faster than life ripple of the blastwave coming from inside the sanctified bubble. The nullifier drone rode the explosive shockwave. It smashed against the roof before falling into the river. The searing sensation the salvage party felt was soon replaced by permanent frost.


End file.
